In the realm of education, you are inundated with a wealth of information at the district, building, teacher, and student levels. The challenge lies in harnessing this vast sea of information, commonly referred to as data to leverage the expertise of your teachers and students in the spirit of enhancing student learning outcomes. 

Throughout your career, you’ve most likely collaborated with teams to analyze, interpret, and disaggregate various types of data spanning state, local, teacher, and student domains. This analysis has enabled you to identify trends, strengths, and growth opportunities, particularly through a focus on priority standards and the nuanced analysis of assessment questions. 

However, I think you know it’s important to acknowledge the limitations of traditional assessments in capturing the full spectrum of student learning. To honor your district’s mission and vision, it’s essential to have other forms of assessment so that students can show their learning in other ways.

In the Learning Forward article, “Data” Shouldn’t Be a Dirty Word by Jim Knight and Michael Fagella Luby, they convincingly say, “But we believe “data” should not be a dirty word. In fact, we believe that gathering, interpreting, and sharing data are all essential parts of effective instructional coaching. Data should be embraced, not shunned, because it can improve student learning and well-being, accelerate professional growth, and build teacher morale.”

This sentiment deeply resonates with my own journey as an educator. Over the years, I’ve collaborated extensively to develop numerous slide decks aimed at presenting a comprehensive narrative blending visual, qualitative, and quantitative insights. Can you relate? These presentations can serve as powerful tools for educators, offering an understanding of student progress and instructional effectiveness. 

Through these collaborative endeavors, my expertise in examining data from various perspectives has significantly evolved, enabling me to assist teachers in monitoring progress and fostering the social, emotional, and intellectual growth of students. Reflecting on the impact of these efforts, I’ve witnessed firsthand their transformative effect on my growth as an educator. 

While acknowledging that data provides only a piece of the larger puzzle, I firmly believe in its pivotal role in informing targeted instructional strategies and nurturing student development.

Given the importance of data or evidence informed practices (as I like to call it) in measuring student growth, I have been asked the following question: 

What other types of measures can be leveraged to comprehensively assess student progress at every level?

Learning is a journey. Students need to be able to envision how they are going to reach their goals and find comfort in going through a process, several iterations, to achieve growth. In the book, Assessing with Respect by Starr Sackstein, she emphasizes that, “It is our responsibility as educators to see children in a holistic sense and find ways that best allow them to be successful” (p. 3). 

Teachers play a crucial role in shaping students’ mindsets and attitudes towards learning. By fostering a growth mindset, educators can empower students to embrace challenges and view mistakes as opportunities for growth. Cultivating a classroom culture that celebrates effort, persistence, and resilience further reinforces this mindset, enabling students to navigate their learning journey with confidence and determination.

In alignment with this philosophy, I ask the following question:

What do students need to know and be able to do as a result of being in your classroom and how can they demonstrate their learning?

As Sackstein emphasizes, “It’s important to remember that assessment is not a static thing, but an action — an ongoing formative process that we engage in continually to ensure all students are getting what they need” (p. 6).

Building upon this idea, I am eager to introduce additional pathways to progress through student choice that educators can use and continuously refine to empower and engage learners. Through the curriculum articulation process, we recognize the need for diverse pathways that allow students to demonstrate their learning effectively.

Implementing Share Your Learning Choice Boards is a key strategy in this effort. These tools are designed to focus on various types of student work, enabling us to monitor student understanding and growth effectively, while providing ongoing feedback and support tailored to individual learning needs.

What are Share Your Learning Choice Boards?

Inspired by Catlin Tucker’s work, I started to leverage this idea when I was in the classroom. Now, as a district leader, I have suggested them to teachers during the observation process and incorporated them into curriculum writing to highlight different learning activities that can assess student learning. These visual organizers provide students with various options for learning tasks, catering to different learning styles and interests. They encourage student autonomy, agency, and engagement. 

Sample Implementation: 

For an 8th-grade literacy lesson, we recently created a “Share Your Learning Choice Board” based on the novel “The Cage” by Ruth Minsky Sender. We developed activities that are aligned with standards that allow students to explore and express the themes of resilience, human rights, and the impacts of historical events like the Holocaust. This poignant story offers rich opportunities for deep reflection and learning.

Essential Question: How do stories from historical periods influence and shape our understanding of the world?

New York State Next Generation English Language Arts Priority Learning Standards Addressed:

8W3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, relevant descriptive details, and clear sequencing.

8W4: Create a poem, story, play, artwork, or other response to a text, author, theme or personal experience; explain divergences from the original text when appropriate

WHST 4 (6-8): Write responses to texts and to events (past and present), ideas, and theories that include personal, cultural, and thematic connections.

Choice Board Learning Activities

Each activity can be designed to help students explore how historical narratives, like those in “The Cage,” influence our understanding of human nature, societal structures, and universal themes. This choice board can also be adapted for any text or learning experience:

Click HERE to access Catlin Tucker’s Share Your Learning Choice Board Template and learning more about Choice Boards HERE

Examples of Activities for Each Learning Choice 

1. Compose a Piece of Writing: Write an essay analyzing how the narrative of “The Cage” offers insights into the human condition during times of extreme adversity.

2. Record an Audio Explanation: Create a podcast discussing the significance of storytelling in preserving the memory of historical events as depicted in “The Cage.”

3. Create an Illustration: Illustrate a critical scene from the book that encapsulates a key theme, such as resilience or loss, and discuss its historical and emotional impact.

4. Combine Drawings and Text (Comic or Graphic Story): Develop a comic strip that tells a significant event from the novel, focusing on its historical context and the emotional depth of the characters.

5. Sketch Out a Storyboard: Design a storyboard that depicts a turning point in the book, exploring how this event helps us understand societal reactions to crises.

6. Design a Flowchart/KWL (Know, Want to Know, Learned): Use a KWL chart to outline what students knew about the Holocaust before, what insights they hoped to gain through “The Cage,” and what understandings they have developed after reading.

7. Sketchnotes/Character Analysis Journaling: Keep a journal with sketchnotes that analyze the development of characters in “The Cage,” focusing on how these portrayals contribute to our understanding of historical periods.

8. Produce a Video or Digital Story: Make a short video summarizing a key theme of the book, such as the struggle for dignity in inhumane conditions, and discuss its relevance to understanding historical human behavior.

9. Create Visual Art (e.g., Sculpture or Model): Construct a piece of art that represents a major theme or symbol from the book, discussing its significance in the historical narrative.

10. Express Yourself Through Poetry or Song Lyrics: Write a poem or song inspired by a poignant moment in the book, reflecting on what it teaches about human strength and vulnerability.

11. Surface Connections with a Mind Map: Create a mind map that links different characters and events from “The Cage” to broader historical themes, such as endurance and hope in the face of despair.

12. Your Choice – Design Your Own: Students can propose their own project that delves deeper into the themes of “The Cage,” focusing on how these themes help illuminate aspects of the historical period covered.

What meaningful ways can the Share Your Learning Choice Board Activities be assessed? 

Assess the Learning: Generate a Rubric Using Artificial Intelligence Magic School AI

A task that used to take hours, suddenly took minutes! I saved myself time using Magic School AI to create a rubric that is aligned with the priority standard and assignment. Simply select “Rubric Generator.” Then insert your grade level, standard, learning objective, assignment description, and preferred point scale! And just like magic, a rubric is generated! Just see the one below:

You can access the RUBRIC HERE

Incorporate Self-Reflection: Incorporating self-reflection based on a rubric and learning standard helps students critically assess their own work against clear, predefined criteria, promoting deeper understanding and personal accountability in their learning process. This approach encourages them to identify areas for improvement and recognize their strengths, fostering a proactive attitude towards learning and self-improvement. 

You can utilize the following questions:

1. Why did you choose this score for yourself?

2. What parts of your work show this level of skill?

3. Does this work show you’ve gotten better at this skill?

4. What parts of this skill do you still need to work on?

5. Do you need more help or lessons to get better at this skill?

Moving Forward

As you continue to explore pathways to progress through choice to assess and nurture student growth, the integration of diverse learning activities and assessments becomes increasingly vital. By embracing a holistic view of education, you not only support the academic success of your students, but also contribute to their overall well-being and development. 

What additional pathways to progress do you think could enhance your understanding of student growth, and how might these be effectively implemented in your own educational settings?